WSJ: How To Get Hired At Wipro

I have been working on a book on how to hire the right person for the organization. Prerna Sodhi of the Wall Street Journal asked me recently if I could help her readers get insights on what gets a person hired at Wipro. We spoke about leadership development methodologies and everything else in between. Here is an edited version of the conversation:Q: What makes people come to Wipro?Abhijit: The most common response that we have received from candidates is the size of the canvas Wipro provides. We deal in information technology, consumer goods, solar power etc. which gives a wide variety of opportunities to an individual. It gives them opportunities to try out new ideas and an entrepreneurial outlook.Q: What kind of jobs are candidates looking for these days?Abhijit: Wipro has a large portfolio of businesses. Thus, we find candidates interested in working in consumer goods, infrastructure, consulting etc. In IT, depending upon the experience and background, candidates look for options in programming, project manager roles, system architect roles etc.Q: What are the three qualities that an ideal Wipro employee should have?Abhijit: We believe in three things to make a workplace a healthy and a happy place.The first would be a person’s intensity to win.Second is the ability to act with sensitivity. In an organization where there is much diversity, not in terms of gender or race but in terms of an individual’s working style, decision-making style, method of communication etc., we look for people who have the ability to act sensitively to such diversity and also respect the individuals around him.Third is unyielding integrity which is not just limited to honesty and fairness but also goes beyond what one does on a regular basis and also delivers what he/she has said and promised.These are the three things we use as a yard stick to measure an individual.Q: What gets you fired at Wipro?Abhijit: The thing that is non-negotiable at Wipro is violating the code of conduct or indulging in unethical practices. This could be anything from violating company policies or practices to defying a country’s law.Q: What are the most common questions or problems employees bring to Wipro’s HR department?Abhijit: The most common piece of information that HR can help with, is to get clarity about one’s career, how to grow faster.Employees have one-on-one discussions as to how to overcome the problems they face in their careers and what they should do to overcome these issues. We work with them and coach them and provide them with feedback. To deal with the aspirations and frustrations of employees and to be with them in these phases of transition is very challenging.Q: What helps an individual grow at Wipro?Abhijit: First would be strategic leadership. This would involve an individual’s understanding of the business environment and ability to inspire people in that direction.The second quality will be customer-centricity. Your customer decides whether you have met their expectations or not. Thus, to grow you need to understand customer priority.The third would be to work in collaboration to get a multiplier effect. This is a huge trade quality one must have. For example, as an individual you are able to achieve X and someone else achieves Y. Instead of working to get a collaborated result that is a sum of X+Y, people should instead work to get a result that is X x Y.Building talent will be the fourth. This helps in promoting different styles of doing the same thing. There is a widely known 70:20:10 model of development that describes what helps people to grow. According to this model, 70% of a professional’s development happens from experiences gained while at the job. If the job is challenging enough it contributes 70% to the individual’s development. Some 20% is driven by the kind of mentor you work with at a level senior to yours and the remaining 10% comes from the formal inputs and classroom sessions you have. Coaching is a significant part of development. The more conversations you have with an expert the more you learn.Q: What are the three things that worry you the most?Abhijit: In leadership development the first dilemma for anyone would be, what shape will the business take in two to three years’ time and what those drivers will be? Once you understand that question, it leads you to the second question—what model of leadership and competency should be adopted to make people successful in achieving that environment. You see, business today is far flung and multi-generational. A work force has a bunch of people whose response to one particular situation will be varied. Thus, what model should be adopted to help people succeed in such an environment? The third is how can we help an individual to acquire these competencies?------------The interview can be read from the WSJ site by clicking hereYou may like to read this article on How to Be a Good Boss - Wall Street Journal dated Sep 17, 2010